IoT devices, block chain platforms and IoT systems for recording transportation data of objects and methods of using the same

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure includes IoT devices, block chain platforms, and IoT systems for recording transportation data of an object and methods of using the same. In some examples, IoT devices are one time programmed with a private key in a manufacturing process of the IoT device. In some examples, IoT devices may include at least one sensor configured to detect external environment data of an object during transportation of the object; and a processor configured to receive the data from the sensor and generate a data packet based on the data using a private key, the data packet including a unique identification number of the IoT device, the data and a signature generated according to the unique identification number and the data.

RELATED APPLICATION DATA

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/235,589, filed on Dec. 28, 2018, and titled “IoT Devices, Block ChainPlatforms and IoT Systems for Recording Transportation Data of Objectsand Methods of Using the Same,” which claims the benefit of priority ofChinese Patent Application No. 201711483635.1, filed on Dec. 29, 2017,and titled “Methods, Medium, IoT Device, Block Chain Platform and IoTSystem for Recording Transportation Data of Object,” each of which isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure generally relates to the field of Internet ofThings (IoT), and particularly to IoT devices, block chain platforms andIoT systems for recording transportation data of an object and methodsof using the same.

BACKGROUND

Currently, with the improved requirements to various kinds of cargoesand the development of logistics transportation networks, refrigeratedtransportation has become a popular manner of transportation, especiallyfor some cargoes that were not capable or not easily transported longdistances. For example, some fresh foods such as vegetables, fruits andmeat and some processed foods such as flash-frozen foods and milkproducts can be delivered thousands of miles from their places ofproduction to local supermarkets or customer's homes throughrefrigerated transportation. Furthermore, some medicines and medicalequipment that should be kept at low temperature may also need to betransferred from one place to another by refrigerated transportation.Refrigerated transportation may be through highways, waterways, railwaysand airways, or may be a composite of multiple different transportationchannels. During the entire transportation process, including all ofloading and unloading, transferring transportation type or changingpackaging facility, the object to be transported should be kept at acertain temperature.

In current refrigerated transportation, temperature detection devicesare used to detect and record temperatures of respective locations, suchas the warehouse at the place of production, the transportation device(such as a refrigerator car) and the destination (such as a supermarketor distribution site).

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

Existing temperature detection devices use a common temperature sensorwithout identification, such that the resulting final temperature datamay have been tampered with. For example, in many refrigerator cars, thetemperature detection device is fixed in the compartment and is poweredby the vehicle itself. During a long transportation, it is possible forthe driver to turn off the power supply to the refrigerator compartmentfor power saving but keep the reading of the temperature detectiondevice constant. Thus, when the cargo arrives at the destination, aseries of constant temperature values that meet the requirements areobtained from the temperature detection device, but in fact, the cargodid not always stay at that temperature value during the transportation.

Furthermore, in the current temperature detecting and recording process,it is usually only possible to detect the environment temperature at aspecific point in each location (such as the warehouse, thetransportation facility and the destination) such that the measuredtemperature is not reflective of the temperature of the cargo itself,which may be at a distance from the specific measurement point.

Further, with current refrigerated transportation, the temperature datais read out from the temperature detection device upon reaching thedestination and transmitted to a central database, and thus the data insuch a database is easily tampered with and deleted, resulting inunreliable data.

In addition to refrigerated transportation, for the transportation ofsome other special cargoes, such as fragile items, various data duringthe transportation of the cargoes should be continuously recorded toensure that the transportation conditions always meet requirements.

In view of at least one of the above problems, the present disclosureproposes a method and an IoT device for recording transportation data ofan object and an IoT system including such an IoT device.

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, an IoT device forrecording transportation data of an object is provided. The IoT devicehas been one time programmed with a private key in a manufacturingprocess of the IoT device. The IoT device includes: at least one sensorconfigured to detect external environment data of the object duringtransportation of the object; and a processor configured to receive thedata from the sensor and generate a data packet based on the data usingthe private key, the data packet including a unique identificationnumber of the IoT device, the data and a signature generated based onthe unique identification number and the data.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a method forrecording transportation data of an object is provided. The methodincludes receiving external environment data of the object detectedduring transportation of the object from at least one sensor of an IoTdevice, the IoT device having been one time programmed with a privatekey in a manufacturing process of the IoT device; and generating a datapacket based on the data using the private key, the data packetincluding a unique identification number of the IoT device, the data anda signature generated based on the unique identification number and thedata.

According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, a nonvolatilecomputer readable medium for recording transportation data of an objectis provided. The nonvolatile computer readable medium includes computerprogram codes for receiving external environment data of the objectdetected during transportation of the object from at least one sensor ofan IoT device, the IoT device having been one time programmed with aprivate key in a manufacturing process of the IoT device; and computerprogram codes for generating a data packet based on the data using theprivate key, the data packet including a unique identification number ofthe IoT device, the data and a signature generated based on the uniqueidentification number and the data.

According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a block chainplatform for recording transportation data of an object is provided. Theblock chain platform includes an underlying block chain; and anapplication server or a smart contract entity configured to receive adata packet from an IoT device, authenticate the data packet based on apublic key of the IoT device and store the data of the data packet tothe underlying block chain upon a successful authentication.

According to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, a method forrecording transportation data of an object is provided. The methodincludes receiving a data packet from an IoT device; authenticating thedata packet based on a public key of the IoT device; and storing thedata of the data packet to the underlying block chain upon a successfulauthentication.

According to a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, a nonvolatilecomputer readable medium for recording transportation data of an objectis provided. The nonvolatile computer readable medium includes computerprogram codes for receiving a data packet from an IoT device; computerprogram codes for authenticating the data packet based on a public keyof the IoT device; and computer program codes for storing the data ofthe data packet to the underlying block chain upon a successfulauthentication.

Compared with conventional IoT devices and systems for recordingtransportation data of an object, the solution of the present disclosuremay ensure accurate detecting and recording of the transportation dataof the object and may prevent the data from being tampered with.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure will be understood better and other objectives,details, features and advantages of the present disclosure will becomemore evident from the description of specific embodiments of thedisclosure given in conjunction with the following figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a structure block diagram of the IoT device forrecording transportation data of an object according to the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart of a method for recording transportationdata of an object according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic view of an IoT system for recordingtransportation data of an object according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 4A illustrates a block diagram of a block chain platform accordingto one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4B illustrates a block diagram of a block chain platform accordingto another embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart of a method for recording transportationdata of an object according to the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in moredetail in conjunction with accompanying figures. Although embodiments ofthe present disclosure are shown in the accompanying figures, it shouldbe understood that the present disclosure can be embodied in variousways but not be limited to the embodiments depicted herein. Instead, theembodiments are provided herein to make the disclosure more thorough andcomplete and convey the scope of the present disclosure to those skilledin the art.

FIG. 1 illustrates a functional block diagram of an IoT device 10 forrecording transportation data of an object according to the presentdisclosure. As shown in FIG. 1 , the IoT device 10 includes at least onesensor 12 and a processor 14. The sensor 12 is configured to detect theexternal environment data of the object during transportation of theobject.

The sensor 12 may be any one, or combination of several of, anenvironmental sensor, a motion sensor, a gas sensor and a locationsensor, as described below.

In one implementation, the sensor 12 may be an environmental sensor suchas a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor or an air pressure sensor.For example, in the refrigerated transportation as described in thebackground, when transporting fresh foods such as vegetables, fruits ormeat and milk products, the temperature and humidity duringtransportation is significantly important for maintaining the quality ofthe cargo. Therefore, sensor 12 may include a temperature sensor and/ora humidity sensor to monitor the temperature and/or humidity of thecargo during the transportation. As another example, some cargo shouldbe transported under a certain air pressure such as a low air pressureor a high air pressure, in which case sensor 12 may include an airpressure sensor to monitor the air pressure during transportation of thecargo.

In another implementation, the sensor 12 may be a motion sensor (or aninertial sensor) such as a gyroscope, an acceleration sensor or acompass sensor. For example, for some fragile items, the acceleration orshock during the transportation should be monitored, in which casesensor 12 may include an acceleration sensor.

In yet another implementation, the gas sensor includes sensors fordetecting various gases such as carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide(CO2), formaldehyde like gases, which may be gas sensors utilizingvarious principles. For example, to transport some cargo sensitive tocertain gas, sensor 12 may include a gas sensor for monitoring theconcentration of such gas.

Furthermore, the sensor 12 may also be a location sensor such as GlobalPositioning System (GPS) sensor for detecting the location andtrajectory of cargo during transportation.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart of a method 100 for recordingtransportation data of an object according to the present disclosure.The method may be implemented by the processor 14 shown in FIG. 1 , forexample. The method 100 is described hereinafter in connection with FIG.1 and FIG. 2 .

The processor 14 may be configured to receive the detected externalenvironment data from the sensor 12 (step 102). Unlike conventional IoTdevices, the IoT device 10 according to the present disclosure has aunique identification number and is associated with a pair of public keyand private key specific to the IoT device 10. Furthermore, theprocessor 14 is configured to process the data received from the sensor12 with the private key of the pair of public key and private key togenerate a data packet (step 104). The private key may be one timeprogrammed (OTP) to the IoT device 10 within, for example, a memory 17of the IoT device 10 as shown in FIG. 1 , during the production of theIoT device 10. Here, OTP means programming data on a non-volatile memorywhere the setting of each bit is locked by a fuse or antifuse. Thememory on which the OTP may be performed is one type of read-only memory(ROM) and data may be burned on such a memory only once. Therefore, thedata on such a memory is permanent and cannot be changed. By one timeprogramming the private key into the IoT device 10 during themanufacturing process of the IoT device 10, the private key of the IoTdevice 10 cannot be changed during the entire lifecycle of the IoTdevice 10 and thus the safety of the private key, and therefore the dataobtained by the sensor 12, may be ensured. In one example, the datapacket includes at least the unique identification number of the IoTdevice 10, the data received from the sensor 12 and a signaturegenerated according to the unique identification number and the data.

In one implementation, the processor 14 may use the public key in thepair of public key and private key as the unique identification numberof the IoT device 10. By reusing the public key in the pair of publickey and private key as the unique identification number of the IoTdevice 10, the signaling needed for the platform 20 to identify the IoTdevice 10 is reduced. In this case, by registering the uniqueidentification number of the IoT device 10 to a block chain platform,the block chain platform may obtain both the unique identificationnumber and the public key of the IoT device 10.

In another implementation, the unique identification number of the IoTdevice 10 is generated by the processor 14 based on the public key ofthe pair of public key and private key. For example, the processor 14may perform a cryptographic hash operation on the public key and use theresult of the hash operation (the hashed public key) as the uniqueidentification number of the IoT device 10. By separately setting theunique identification number and the public key of the IoT device 10,the public key of the IoT device 10 may be protected and all uniqueidentification numbers of IoT devices provided by a same provider mayhave a same length if a same hash operation is used. In this case, theIoT device 10 may transmit its public key to the block chain platform bya registration process, and inform the block chain platform of the hashoperation that was used, by preconfiguring or signaling separately, forexample. Those skilled in the art may understand that the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto, and the unique identification numberof the IoT device 10 may be generated or be assigned in any known or tobe developed manners for example, in order for the unique identificationnumber to globally identify the IoT device 10.

In one implementation, the generation of the data packet in step 104 mayinclude the following sub-steps. Firstly, the processor 14 performs ahash operation on the combination of the unique identification number ofthe IoT device 10 and the data received from the sensor 12 (sub-step1042). In contrast to only performing the hash operation on the detecteddata, both the unique identification number and the detected data may beprotected by performing the hash operation on both of them.Subsequently, the processor 14 performs an asymmetric encryption on theresult of the hash operation to generate the signature with the privatekey in the pair of public key and private key (sub-step 1044). Herein,the hash operation may be any of the general MD4, MD5, SHA-1, SHA-2,SHA-3 or BLAKE2 algorithms. Further, it should be noted that the hashoperation performed by the processor 14 on the unique identificationnumber and the data may be identical to or different from the hashoperation described above for generating the unique identificationnumber of the IoT device 10. Finally, the processor 14 packetizes theunique identification number of the IoT device, the data received fromthe sensor 12 and the generated signature into a data packet (sub-step1046).

In one example, the content of the data packet generated by theprocessor 14 may include the unique identification number of the IoTdevice 10, the data received from the sensor 12 and the signaturegenerated by the processor 14, while the format of the data packet maybe fixed or flexible as described in the following.

Furthermore, the processor 14 is further configured to transmit thegenerated data packet to the block chain platform (such as the blockchain platform 20 shown in FIG. 3 ) for storage (step 106). In thisregard, the IoT device 10 may further include a communication module 16that is configured to receive the data packet from the processor 14 andtransmit the data packet to the block chain platform for storage. Priorto the transmission of the data packet, the communication module 16 isfurther configured to register the unique identification number of theIoT device 10 to the block chain platform.

In some cases, it may be desired to read out all of the data obtainedduring the transportation of an object collectively at a destination.For this purpose, the IoT device 10 may be equipped with an offlinecommunication function. In these cases, the communication module 16 mayinclude an offline communication interface that may be used tocommunicate with a scanner in a near distance communication manner totransmit the data packet generated by the processor 14 to the scanner,which in turn forwards the data packet to the block chain platform.Herein, the near distance communication manner may include at least oneof Near Field Communication (NFC), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)or other known or to be developed near distance communication manners inthe art such as WiFi, Bluetooth, and ZIGBEE.

In some cases, it may be desired to monitor data generated by sensor(s)12 during the transportation of the object in real time or substantiallyreal time. For this purpose, the IoT device 10 may be equipped with anonline communication function. In these cases, the communication module16 may include an online communication interface that may be used toconnect with a radio access network directly and transmit the datapacket generated by the processor 14 to the block chain platform overthe radio access network. Herein, the online communication function ofthe communication module 16 may be implemented by any Radio AccessTechnology (RAT) known or to be developed in the art.

It may be appreciated by those skilled in the art that whether thecommunication module 16 is configured to support the onlinecommunication or the offline communication or both depends on variousfactors such as the production cost or the cargo to be monitored.

In addition to the wireless communication function as described above,the communication module 16 of the IoT device 10 may also support awired communication function. In this case, the communication module 16may include a wired communication interface such as a USB interface thattransmits the data packet generated by the processor 14 to the blockchain platform directly or indirectly through a data cable such as a USBcable.

Furthermore, the IoT device 10 may further include a power supplycomponent 18 which is used to power the IoT device 10. The power supplycomponent 18 may be a battery, for example. Different from conventionaldetection devices powered by an external power source, an internal powersupply 18 may further prevent data obtained by the sensor 12 from beingtampered with by powering the IoT device 10 with the power supplycomponent contained in itself.

It may be understood that the IoT device 10 according to the presentdisclosure may further include some other components relevant to or notrelevant to the present solution such as a memory, a transceiver, anantenna, etc., which will not be described in detail herein.

FIG. 3 illustrates an IoT system 1 for recording transportation data ofan object according to the present disclosure. As shown in the FIG. 3 ,in addition to the IoT device 10 described above in connection with theFIG. 1 , the IoT system 1 further includes a block chain platform 20.The block chain platform 20 is configured to receive the data packetgenerated by the processor 14 from the IoT device 10, authenticate thedata packet based on the public key of the IoT device 10 and store thedata in the data packet upon a successful authentication.

As described above, the format of the data packet may be fixed orflexible. In one implementation, a fixed format of data packet may beused. The following Table 1 shows an exemplary fixed format of the datapacket.

TABLE 1 Unique Identification Number Data Signature

Herein, the field of Unique Identification Number indicates the uniqueidentification number of the IoT device 10, the field of Data indicatesthe data detected by the sensor 12, and the field of Signature indicatesthe signature generated by the processor 14 according to the uniqueidentification number of the IoT device 10 and the data detected by thesensor 12. It may be understood by those skilled in the art that thefixed format of the data packet is not limited to the specific sequenceor form as shown in Table 1, but may adopt other forms that can beconceived by those skilled in the art.

In case of fixed format of data packet, the fixed format may bepreconfigured in the IoT device 10 and the block chain platform 20,respectively. For example, respective lengths and sequence of the fieldsof Unique Identification Number, Data and Signature may bepreconfigured.

FIG. 4A illustrates a block diagram of the block chain platform 20according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG.4A, the block chain platform 20 includes an underlying block chain 22and an application server 24 interfaced with the underlying block chain22, which may be an application server of a provider that provides aservice of recording transportation data according to presentdisclosure.

FIG. 4B illustrates a block diagram of the block chain platform 20according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown inFIG. 4B, the block chain platform 20 includes an underlying block chain22 that includes a plurality of block chain nodes 26. In thisimplementation, a smart contract (such as the smart contract 28 shown inFIG. 4B) dedicated to recording the transportation data may be developedand distributed to the block chain platform 20, for example, to aplurality of block chain nodes 26. Here, the block chain nodes 26 may beregarded as the hosts of the smart contract 28, and are also referred toin the present disclosure as the smart contract entity 28. The smartcontract 28 may be developed by a developer of the system 1 or otherproviders and may be regarded as part of the system 1.

Here, the underlying block chain 22 may be any block chain known in theart or to be developed in the future, including public block chain,private block chain or consortium block chain, which will not bedescribed in detail herein.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart of a method 200 for recordingtransportation data of an object according to the present disclosure.The method 200 may be implemented by the block chain platform 20.Hereinafter the method 200 will be described in connection with FIGS.4A-4B and FIG. 5 .

In step 202, the block chain platform 20 receives a data packet from theIoT device 10. It should be appreciated that the data packet includesthe unique identification number of the IoT device 10. Then, the blockchain platform determines whether the unique identification number hasbeen registered (step 204). If the unique identification number has beenregistered (YES in step 204), the block chain platform 20 retrieves thecombination of the unique identification number of the IoT device 10 andthe data detected by the sensor 12 from the data packet (step 206), andretrieves the signature from the data packet (step 208). Then, the blockchain platform 20 performs a same hash operation on the combination ofthe unique identification number and the data as the hash operationperformed by the processor 14 to generate the data packet as describedabove (step 210), and decrypts the signature using the public key of theIoT device 10 (step 212). Subsequently, the block chain platform 20compares the result of the hash operation obtained in step 210 and theresult of the decryption obtained in step 212 (step 214) and determineswhether they are the same (step 216). If they are the same (YES in step216), which indicates a successful authentication of the data packet,the data in the data packet is stored on the block chain platform 20.Due to the anti-tamper characteristic of the block chain itself, thedata on the block chain platform 20 may be safely stored.

Depending on the implementation of the block chain platform, respectivesteps of the method 200 may be implemented by the application server 24or the smart contract entity 28 or the combination thereof. For example,steps 202 to 216 of the method 200 may be all performed by theapplication server 24 shown in FIG. 4A or the smart contract entity 28shown in FIG. 4B, and then at step 218 the data is stored on theunderlying block chain 22. Alternatively, the steps 202, 204, 208 and212 of the method 200 may be performed by the application server 24 andother steps are performed by the smart contract entity 28. In this case,the block chain platform 20 may be implemented as a combination of thatin FIG. 4A and that in FIG. 4B.

In examples where the communication module 16 includes an offlinecommunication interface, the IoT system 1 may further include a scanner30, which may receive the data packet from the IoT device 10 and forwardthe data packet to the block chain platform 20. Depending on the neardistance communication manner supported by the IoT device 10, thescanner 30 should support the same near distance communication manner.

According to the solution of the present disclosure, when the cargobegins to be transported, the IoT device 10 may be powered on and placedtogether with the cargo (in the package of the cargo, for example).Respective data packets generated by the IoT device 10 during thetransportation procedure may be transmitted periodically oraperiodically to the block chain platform 20 at respective locations(such as the warehouse, the transportation facility and the destination)of the whole transportation procedure (in case that the IoT device 10supports an online communication function), or all the data packetsgenerated during the transportation procedure may be retrieved at oncefrom the IoT device 10 when the cargo reaches the destination andtransmitted to the block chain platform 20 (in case that the IoT device10 supports an offline communication function).

By assigning a unique identification number to the IoT device 10, it mayprevent the sensor 12 from being replicated and fake data from beingobtained from the replicated sensor.

By one time programming the private key to the IoT device 10 with aprogramming software, encrypting the data obtained by the sensor 12 withthe private key and decrypting the data by the block chain platform 20with the corresponding public key, the safety of the data transmissionmay be ensured.

In addition, by uploading the data to the block chain platform andauthenticating and storing the data by the block chain platform, thesafety of the data storage may be further improved.

In one or more exemplary designs, the functions described by the presentdisclosure may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or anycombination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may bestored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium.

The various units of the device described herein may be implemented withdiscrete hardware components or integrally in a single hardwarecomponent such as a processor. For example, the various illustrativelogical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with theaspects disclosed herein may be implemented within or performed by ageneral purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmablegate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate ortransistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combinationthereof designed to perform the functions described herein.

Those skilled in the art would further appreciate that any of thevarious illustrative logical blocks, modules, processors, means,circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspectsdisclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computersoftware, or combinations of both.

Example implementations of the present disclosure may include a methodfor recording transportation data of an object, the method includingreceiving external environment data of the object detected duringtransportation of the object from at least one sensor of an Internet ofThings (IoT) device, the IoT device having been one time programmed witha private key in a manufacturing process of the IoT device; andgenerating a data packet based on the data using the private key, thedata packet including a unique identification number of the IoT device,the data and a signature generated based on the unique identificationnumber and the data.

Example implementations of the present disclosure may also include anonvolatile computer readable medium for recording transportation dataof an object, which may include machine-executable instructions forreceiving external environment data of the object detected duringtransportation of the object from at least one sensor of an Internet ofThings (IoT) device, the IoT device having been one time programmed witha private key in a manufacturing process of the IoT device; andmachine-executable instructions for generating a data packet based onthe data using the private key, the data packet including a uniqueidentification number of the IoT device, the data and a signaturegenerated based on the unique identification number and the data.

Example implementations of the present disclosure may also include amethod for recording transportation data of an object, the methodincluding receiving a data packet from an IoT device; authenticating thedata packet based on a public key of the IoT device; and storing datacontained in the data packet to an underlying block chain upon asuccessful authentication.

Example implementations of the present disclosure may also include anonvolatile computer readable storage medium for recordingtransportation data of an object, which may include machine-executableinstructions for receiving a data packet from an IoT device;machine-executable instructions for authenticating the data packet basedon a public key of the IoT device; and machine-executable instructionsfor storing data contained in the data packet to an underlying blockchain upon a successful authentication.

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in theart to make or use the present disclosure. Various modifications to thepresent disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art,and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to otheraspects without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, thepresent disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples anddesigns shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistentwith the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

The foregoing has been a detailed description of illustrativeembodiments of the invention. It is noted that in the presentspecification and claims appended hereto, conjunctive language such asis used in the phrases “at least one of X, Y and Z” and “one or more ofX, Y, and Z,” unless specifically stated or indicated otherwise, shallbe taken to mean that each item in the conjunctive list can be presentin any number exclusive of every other item in the list or in any numberin combination with any or all other item(s) in the conjunctive list,each of which may also be present in any number. Applying this generalrule, the conjunctive phrases in the foregoing examples in which theconjunctive list consists of X, Y, and Z shall each encompass: one ormore of X; one or more of Y; one or more of Z; one or more of X and oneor more of Y; one or more of Y and one or more of Z; one or more of Xand one or more of Z; and one or more of X, one or more of Y and one ormore of Z.

Various modifications and additions can be made without departing fromthe spirit and scope of this invention. Features of each of the variousembodiments described above may be combined with features of otherdescribed embodiments as appropriate in order to provide a multiplicityof feature combinations in associated new embodiments. Furthermore,while the foregoing describes a number of separate embodiments, what hasbeen described herein is merely illustrative of the application of theprinciples of the present invention. Additionally, although particularmethods herein may be illustrated and/or described as being performed ina specific order, the ordering is highly variable within ordinary skillto achieve aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, thisdescription is meant to be taken only by way of example, and not tootherwise limit the scope of this invention.

Exemplary embodiments have been disclosed above and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings. It will be understood by those skilled in the artthat various changes, omissions and additions may be made to that whichis specifically disclosed herein without departing from the spirit andscope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of recording transportation data of an object with an Internet of Things (IoT) device, the IoT device including at least one sensor configured to detect external environment data of the object during transportation of the object, a processor, a private key, and a unique identification number, the method comprising: receiving the data from the sensor; performing a hash operation on at least the data; using the private key to perform an asymmetric encryption on the result of the hash operation to generate a signature; and packetizing the unique identification number, the data, and the signature into a data packet.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: generating, with the processor, the unique identification number using a public key corresponding to the private key.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: performing a hash operation on a public key corresponding to the private key and using the result of the hash operation as the unique identification number.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: using a public key corresponding to the private key as the unique identification number.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of performing a hash operation includes performing a hash operation on a combination of the unique identification number and the data.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: registering the unique identification number of the IoT device to a block chain platform.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting the data packet to a block chain platform.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting the data packet to a block chain platform for storage with at least one of (1) an online communication interface of the Iot device that is connected with a radio access network directly and configured to transmit the data packet to the block chain platform over the radio access network, (2) an offline communication interface of the IoT device configured to communicate with a scanner in a near distance communication to transmit the data packet to the scanner for forwarding the data packet to the block chain platform; or (3) a wired communication interface of the IoT device for transmitting the data packet directly or indirectly to the block chain platform through a data cable.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensor includes at least one of an environmental sensor, a motion sensor, a gas sensor and a location sensor.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the IoT device includes a power supply component for powering the IoT device.
 11. A method of recording transportation data of an object with a blockchain platform, the blockchain platform including an underlying block chain and at least one processor, the method comprising: receiving a data packet from an IoT device that includes a unique identification number of the IoT device, sensor data and a signature; performing a hash operation on at least the data; decrypting the signature using a public key of the IoT device; comparing a result of the hash operation and a result of the decrypting; and storing the sensor data to the underlying block chain if the result of the hash operation and the result of the decrypting are the same.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the signature was generated based on a combination of the unique identification number and the sensor data and wherein the step of performing a hash operation includes performing a hash operation on the combination of the unique identification number and the data, the hash operation being same as a hash operation performed by a processor of the IoT device on the combination of the unique identification number and the data.
 13. The method of claim 11, further comprising receiving the data packet from a scanner communicatively coupled with the IoT device.
 14. A method of recording transportation data of a plurality of objects with a plurality of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and at least one scanner, the method comprising: receiving, at the scanner, from each of the plurality of IoT devices, data packets generated by the IoT devices that include a unique identification number of the IoT device, sensor data recorded by a sensor of the IoT device, and a signature generated by the IoT device based on at least the data; and transmitting the data packets to a block chain platform for storage.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of receiving includes communicating with each of the IoT devices using a near distance communication protocol.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the near distance communication protocol is Near Field Communication (NFC), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Bluetooth, or ZIGBEE.
 17. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of receiving includes communicating with each of the IoT devices via an offline communication interface of the IoT devices.
 18. The method of claim 14, wherein the signature is an encrypted version of a result of a hash operation performed on at least the sensor data.
 19. The method of claim 14, wherein the signature is an encrypted version of a result of a hash operation performed on a combination of the sensor data and a unique identification number of the IoT device.
 20. A method of recording transportation data of an object with a blockchain platform, the blockchain platform including an underlying block chain and at least one processor, the method comprising: receiving a data packet from a scanner communicatively coupled with an IoT device; authenticating the data packet based on a public key of the IoT device; and storing the data of the data packet to the underlying block chain upon a successful authentication.
 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the step of authenticating the data packet based on a public key of the IoT device includes: performing a hash operation on at least the data; decrypting a signature included in the data packet using a public key of the IoT device; and comparing a result of the hash operation and a result of the decrypting. 